Method of making buttonholes



1956 R. A. MATTHIES METHOD OF MAKING BUTTONHOLES Filed May 12, 1953 FIG.|

IN VEN TOR.

LAND A. MATI'HIES United States Patent METHOD OF MAKING BUTTON HOLES Roland A. Matthies, Needham, Mass. Application May 12, 1953, Serial No. 354,472

1 Claim. (Cl. 2266) My present invention relates to the tailoring art and more particularly to a novel method of making buttonholes.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a method of making fancy buttonholes or pockets.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of making buttonholes which will save a considerable amount of time and labor.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of making buttonholes of the type shown in my co-pending applications entitled Buttonhole Attachment For Sewing Machines, Ser. No. 354,064, filed May 11, 1953, now Patent No. 2,711,142, and Buttonhole Cutting Die, Ser. No. 354,471, filed May 12, 1953.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, my invention consists of a novel method of manufacture, more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and more particularly defined in the appended claim.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary perspective view of the position of the parts prior to forming the buttonhole.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a first step in the formation of the buttonhole.

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the cutting operation.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the turning operation.

Fig. 5 is a plan view showing the completed button hole.

In the manufacture of fancy handmade buttonholes it is customary to fold a strip of cloth about a cord and sew it along one side of the buttonhole opening and then take a second strip of cloth and a second cord and sew it along the opposite side of the opening. This must be done with great care so that the corded cloth strips are exactly parallel and equally spaced from the hole. The corded cloths are then turned inwardly through the opening and sewed flat to the opposite side to form a buttonhole having corded edges formed of separate strips of material. The present invention is designed to provide a simple and easy method of forming these buttonholes with greater accuracy and uni formity. In conjunction with the method, the folding attachments and die cutters referred to in my co-pending applications may be used.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, the cloth or material is uncut when the buttonhole is started. A strip of material 11 is positioned across the top of the garment cloth 10 and spaced parallel cords 12 are positioned on top of the material 11.

In the first step of the operation, as shown in Fig. 2, the side edges of strip 11 are turned inwardly as at 13 to form a corded portion, the free ends 14 meeting in the center and extending upwardly. A row of stitches 15 is sewed along each corded portion to tightly lock the cord 12 within the folds of the material and simul- 2,731,644 Patented Jan. 24, 1956 ice taneously lock the corded portions and the strip of material 11 to the garment cloth 10.

Now referring to Fig. 3, the material is turned over and cut is made, preferably by means of a die, to provide an elongated central cut 16 and two V-shaped cuts 17 one at each end of the cut 16. These cuts are made through the garment cloth 10 and the strip of material 11. It should be noted that the position of the cuts is such that they will be centered exactly between the rows of stitching 15 as shown in Fig. 3. The central cut 16 provides the main opening for the buttonhole. The end cuts 17 provide small triangular pieces of material 18. These pieces serve to finish off the buttonhole and leave a smooth finish end which will prevent tearing or ragged edges.

In the next step of the operation the ends of the material 14 together with the corded portions 13 will be positioned downwardly from the position shown in Fig. 2 through the cuts 16 and 17 into the position shown in Fig. 4. The end kaps 18 are then tacked to the material strip 11 as at 19 at each end and the side edges 14 of the material serve as flaps to which the lining or garment facing is attached. The finished buttonhole then appears with the corded portion visible through the opening as can be seen in Fig. 4. This makes a neat pleasing appearance, especially when the corded portion is of contrasting color.

While the above method has been described as being used on a buttonhole, it is obvious that it can also be made to be used on pockets or other decorative objects by varying the length of the cut 16. This is done by marking off the length required on the cloth 10 and then providing a strip of material 11 of the proper length.

The stitching 15 is then also sewed to the proper length.

Since the stitching 15 is done on a double needle machine the finished corded portions are in exact spaced parallel relation. By properly positioning the die cutter between the corded portions, uniformity is ensured. Then it should be noted that the strip 11 forms both sides of the cord and is out later. This differs from the handmade method where each strip of material is separate and must be positioned by sight.

The above method lends itself to the use of automatic folding attachments and to the use of die cutters.

Other objects and advantages of the method of the present invention will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art.

I claim:

The method of making buttonholes comprising the steps of placing an elongated rectangular piece of fabric on the face of a garment, positioning spaced parallel cords longitudinally on said fabric, folding said fabric over said cords with the longitudinal side edges in contiguous relationship between said cords, sewing spaced parallel longitudinal stitches through said folded fabric and said garment to lock said cords and fabric to said garment, cutting said garment and said fabric between said cords to form a cut having triangular end flaps at each end, turning said fabric, flaps, and cords through said cut to the rear of said garment, and stitching said flaps in turned position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 370,903 Stone Oct. 4, 1887 401,995 Bray Apr. 23, 1889 2,529,072 Bradford et al. Nov. 7, 1950 2,549,294 De Marco Apr. 17, 1951 2,607,308 Bufardeci Aug. 19, 1952 2,675,560 Bufardeci Apr. 20, 1954 

